The Census asks questions about language use at home to locate groups of people who speak a language other than English. Their isolation or integration into a primarily English speaking community can be determined by their ability to speak English proficiently.
| Language Spoken at Home, 1990-2000 | ||||
| 1990 | 2000 | |||
| Number | Percent | Number | Percent | |
| Only English | 15,561 | 94.03% | 19,246 | 91.73% |
| Spanish | 726 | 4.39% | 1,621 | 7.73% |
| Other Indo-European* | 202 | 1.22% | 94 | 0.45% |
| Asian Language** | 18 | 0.11% | 20 | 0.10% |
| Other | 42 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% |
| Total Population Age 5+ | 16,549 | 100.00% | 20,981 | 100.00% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 2000 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 1,039 | 64.10% |
| Other Indo-European* | 2 | 2.13% |
| Asian Language** | 14 | 70.00% |
| Other Language | 0 | - |
| Total | 1,055 | 5.03% |
| Population Speaking English Less Than "Very Well" in 1990 | ||
| Language Spoken at Home: | Number | Percent |
| Spanish | 243 | 33.47% |
| Other Indo-European* | 32 | 15.84% |
| Asian Language** | 6 | 33.33% |
| Other Language | 6 | 14.29% |
| Total | 287 | 1.73% |
* "Other Indo-European" excludes English and Spanish. "Indo-European" is not synonymous with "European." French, German, Hindi, and Persian are all classified as Indo-European. Hungarian, on the other hand, is lumped into "Other Language."
** "Asian Language" includes languages indigenous to Asia and Pacific islands areas that are not also Indo-European languages. Chinese, Japanese, Telugu, and Hawaiian are all classified here.
Also note that ability to speak English "very well" is based on the self-assessment of those responding to Census questions, not on a test of language ability.
Source: Census 2000 analyzed by the Social Science Data Analysis Network (SSDAN).
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